After Namibia, South Africa signs deal with India to transfer cheetahs; 12 of them to be flown in Feb-March

New Delhi, Jan 27: South Africa and India has signed an agreement to introduce the transfer of African cheetahs to the Asian country, its environmental department said on Thursday.

 

In September, 8 African cheetahs were released at Kuno National Park in central India after a 5,000-mile (8,000 km) journey from Namibia, the first time wild cheetahs have been moved across continents to be released.

 

"An initial batch of 12 cheetah are scheduled to be flown from South Africa to India in February 2023,” South Africa’s environmental department said in a statement. The big cats will join those introduced from Namibia. "The plan is to translocate a further 12 annually for the next eight to 10 years," the department added.

 

 

This is the second major group of Cheetahs that will be arriving in India after the first group came from Namibia in September 2022. The Cheetahs were released in Kuno National park on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday, September 17. This was the world's first inter-continental transfer of large wild carnivorous animals. The eight Cheetahs were brought from Namibia, five female and three male.

 

Cheetahs in India are being reintroduced under Project Cheetah, officially known as "Action Plan for Introduction of Cheetah in India". Under the project, 50 Cheetahs will be reintroduced in India's national parks over a time frame of five years. Cheetahs, the fastest land animal, was declared extinct in India in 1952.